Honour School of Classics and English

Differences from 2013/14 to 2022/23

A

  • 1. The Honour School of Classics and English shall be under the joint supervision of the Boards of the Faculties of Classics and English Language and Literature, and shall consist of such subjects as they shall jointly by regulation prescribe. The boards shall establish a joint committee consisting of three representatives of each faculty, of whom at least one on each side shall be a member of the respective faculty board, to advise them as necessary in respect of the examination and of the First Public Examination in Classics and English.

  • 2. No candidate shall be admitted to the examination in this school unless he or she has either passed or been exempted from the First Public Examination.

  • 3. No candidate shall be permitted to enter his or her name for the examination who has been adjudged worthy of Honours in Honour Moderations in Classics, or who has there satisfied the Moderators.

  • 4. The Chair of Examiners for the Honour School of English Language and Literature shall designate such of the number of the examiners as may be required for the English subjects of the examination for the Honour School of Classics and English, and the nominating committee for examiners appointed by the Board of the Faculty of Classics shall nominate such of the number of examiners as may be required for the Classics subjects of the examination. When these appointments have been made the number of examiners shall be deemed to be complete.

B

All candidates must take seven subjects. All candidates not taking subject 4(xxe), Second Classical Language, must offer A, two subjects in English, B, two subjects in Classics, C, two subjects linking both sides of the school, and D, a dissertation. The dissertation may be concentrated on English or on Classics, or may link both sides of the school.

Candidates who under B take 3 (a) or (b) (Greek or Latin Core) and 4(xxe), (Second Classical Language) will under C take only one subject, either subject 5 or one of the subjects under 6. The subjects will be examined by written examinations of three hours’’ duration, unless otherwise specified.

The texts of Greek and Latin works used in the examination will be as specified each year in the Handbook for the Honour School of Classics and English.

A: ENGLISH

  • 1. One of the following periods of English literature:

    • (a) Literature in English 1350 –– 1550 (one paper) [As specified for the Honour School of English Language and Literature Course I Subject 2];

    • (b) Literature in English 1660 –– 1760 (one paper) [As specified for the Honour School of English Language and Literature Course I Subject 4];

    • (c) Literature in English 1760 –– 1830 (one paper) [As specified for the Honour School of English Language and Literature Course I Subject 5].

  • 2. One of the following as specified for the Honour School of English Language and Literature:

    • (a) a second of the periods specified in 1 above;

    • (b) Shakespeare (portfolio) [As specified for the Honour School of English Language and Literature Course I, Subject 1];

    • (c) The Material Text (portfolio) [As specified for the Honour School of English Language and Literature Course II, Subject 5(a)];

    • (d) any of the Special Options subjects from the list for the year concerned, which will be published by the English Faculty Office in the year preceding the examination (extended essay) [As specified for the Honour School of English Language and Literature Course I, Subject 6];

    • (e) any of the Special Options subjects for English Course II, Medieval Literature and Language, from the list for the year concerned [As specified for the Honour School of English Language and Literature Course II, Subject 6];

  • provided that candidates who offer (b), (c), (d), and (e) avoid duplicating, in their answers to one paper, material that they have already used in answering another paper.

B: CLASSICS

Subjects 401-14, 501-54, 566-9 and 599 below will be set in accordance with the regulations for the Honour School of Literae Humaniores. For each subject, a detailed specification and, where applicable, prescribed texts will be given in the Greats Handbook applicable to the relevant year of examination. The handbook will be published by Monday of Week 5 of Hilary Term two years preceding the examination.

Subjects 110-1, 115-6 and 130-9 will be as specified in the Regulations for Philosophy in all Honour Schools including Philosophy. 

Any candidate whose native language is not English may bring a bilingual (native language to English) dictionary for use in any examination paper where candidates are required to translate Ancient Greek and/or Latin texts into English.

  • 3. EitherA (a)text-based subject in Greek Literature of the Fifth Century BC (one paper of three hours (commentary and essay) with an additional paper (one-and-a-half hours) of translation) [Honour School of Literae Humaniores, subject III.1(a)].

    or (b) Latin Literature of the First Century BCfrom (onea) paper501–513, of three hours (commentary515 and essay)524-5 with an additional paper (one-and-a-half hours) of translation) [Honour School of Literae Humaniores, subject IIIbelow.2(a)].

  • 4. OneA ofsubject thefrom following(a)-(e) below not already offered under 3. Note

  • Notes: 

    • (ai) Subject (xxie), Second Classical Language, counts as two subjects; hence candidates offering it should offer only one subject under section C. Note:

      (bii) Each of the subjects (ii)503: Historiography, (iii)504: Lyric Poetry, and (vi)507: Comedy will be examined by an extended essay of 5,000––6,000 words and a one-and-a-half-hour translation paper, as specified in the Regulations for the Honour School of Literae Humaniores. Note:

      (ciii) University classes will be given for only one of options 512 and 525, and only one of options 515 and 524 each year.

      (iv) It cannot be guaranteed that university lectures or classes or college teaching will be available on all subjects in every academic year. Candidates are advised to consult their tutors about the availability of teaching when selecting their subjects.

      (a) Greek and Latin Literature

      • (i)501:  Either (a) Greek Literature of the Fifth Century BCCore 

        502: or (b) Latin Literature of the First Century BC (whichever is not offered under 3 above).Core

      • (ii) [Honour School of Literae Humaniores, subject III.3]503: Historiography

      • (iii) [Honour School of Literae Humaniores, subject III.4]504: Lyric Poetry

      • (iv) [Honour School of Literae Humaniores, subject III.6]506: Greek Tragedy

      • (v) [Honour School of Literae Humaniores, subject III.7]507: Comedy

      • (vi) [Honour School of Literae Humaniores, subject III.8]508: Hellenistic Poetry

      • (vii) [Honour School of Literae Humaniores, subject III.9]509: Cicero the Orator

      • (viii) [Honour School of Literae Humaniores, subject III.10]510: Ovid

      • (ix) [Honour School of Literae Humaniores, subject III.11]511: Latin Didactic

      • (x) [Honour School of Literae Humaniores, subject III.12]512: Neronian Literature 

      • (xi) [Honour School of Literae Humaniores, subject III.13]513: Euripides, Orestes: papyri, manuscripts, text

      • (xii) [Honour School of Literae Humaniores, subject III.14]

        Either (a) Seneca, Agamemnon515: manuscripts, text, interpretation

        or (b) Catullus: manuscripts, text, interpretation.

        Note517: UniversityByzantine classes will be given for only one of these options each year.

      • (xiii) [Honour School of Literae Humaniores, subject III.15]Literature

        One of the following518:

        • (a) TheModern ConversionGreek of Augustine Poetry

        • (b)524: ByzantineSeneca, LiteratureMedea: manuscripts, text, interpretation

        • (c)525: Latin Literature from Titus to Trajan

          599: ModernThesis Greekin PoetryLiterature

      • (xivb) [HonourPhilology Schooland of Literae Humaniores, subject III.16] Thesis in LiteratureLinguistics

        • (xv)551: Greek Historical Linguistics [Honour School of Literae Humaniores, subject V.1]

        • (xvi)552: Latin Historical Linguistics [Honour School of Literae Humaniores, subject V.2]

        • 553: General Linguistics and Comparative Philology

          (xvii)554: Comparative Philology: Indo-European, Greek and Latin [Honour School of Literae Humaniores, subject V.4]

      • (xviii) General Linguistics and Comparative Philology [Honour School of Literae Humaniores, subject V.3].

      • (xixc) Ancient and Medieval Philosophy.

        • 110: AnyAquinas

          111: one of subjects 110 (Aquinas), 111 (Duns Scotus, Ockham),

          115: 115 (Plato, Republic, (in translation)

          116:  Aristotle, 116Nicomachean Ethics (in translation)

          130: Plato, Republic (in Greek)

          131: Plato on Knowledge, Language, & Reality in the Theaetetus & Sophist (in Greek)

        • 132: Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics, in translation), 130 (Plato, Republic, in Greek)

          133: Aristotle on Nature, 131Life and Mind (in Greek)

          134: Knowledge and Scepticism in Hellenistic Philosophy (in Greek)

          135: Latin Philosophy (in Latin)

          136: Knowledge and Scepticism in Hellenistic Philosophy (in Latin)

          137: Plato on Knowledge, Language, & Reality in the Theaetetus and& Sophist (in translation)

          138: Aristotle on Nature, 132Life and Mind (Aristotle,in Nicomacheantranslation)

          139: Ethics,Knowledge and Scepticism in Greek), 133 (Aristotle, Physics), 134 (Sextus Empiricus, Outlines of Pyrrhonism), 135 (Latin Philosophy), as specified in Regulations forHellenistic Philosophy (in all Honour Schools including Philosophy.translation)

      • (xxd) EitherGreek and Roman History

        • (401: a) The EarlyArchaic Greek World and Herodotus' HistoriesHistory: 650c.750 to 479 BC [Honour School of Literae Humaniores, subject I. 1]

          402: or  (b) Thucydides and the Greek World: 479 to 403 BC [Honour School of Literae Humaniores, subject I. 2]

          403: or  (c) The End of the Peloponnesian War to the Death of Philip II of Macedon: 403 to 336 BC [Honour School of Literae Humaniores, subject I. 3]

          404: or  (d) Polybius, Rome and the Mediterranean: 241-146 BC [Honour School of Literae Humaniores, subject I. 4]

          405: or  (e) Republic in Crisis: 146-46 BC [Honour School of Literae Humaniores, subject I. 5]

          406: or  (f) Rome, Italy and Empire from Caesar to Claudius: 46 BC to AD 54 [Honour School of Literae Humaniores, subject I. 6]

          407: or  (g) Athenian Democracy in the Classical Age [Honour School of Literae Humaniores, subject I. 7]

          408: or  (h) Alexander the Great and his Early Successors [Honour School of Literae Humaniores, subject I. 8]

          409: or  (i) The Hellenistic World: Societies and Cultures c.300-100 BC [Honour School of Literae Humaniores, subject I. 9]

          410: or  (j) Cicero: Politics and Thought in the Late Republic [Honour School of Literae Humaniores, subject I. 10; may not be combined with (vii) Cicero above]

          411: or  (k) Politics, Society and Culture from Nero to Hadrian [Honour School of Literae Humaniores, subject I. 11]

          412: or  (l) Religions in the Greek and Roman World, c.31 BC-AD 312 [Honour School of Literae Humaniores, subject I. 12]

          413:  or  (m) Sexuality and Gender in Greece and Rome

        • 414: [HonourThe SchoolConversion of LiteraeAugustine

        • 415: HumanioresThe Achaemenid Empire, subject550-330 I. 13]

          BC
      •  

      • Note: Candidates offering anyEach of the subjects (xix)401-6 (will be examined in a)–(f) mustthree-hour alsoessay offerpaper and a one-and-a-half hour paper comprising passages for translation and comment from the associatedprescribed translationtexts, paperas setspecified infor the Honour School of Literae Humaniores.

      • (xxie) Second Classical Language. As specified for the Honour School of Literae Humaniores (VI). Candidates who offer a Second Classical Language must offer either both subjects in Greek (566/568) or both subjects in Latin (567/569), and may not offer either subject in a language in which they satisfied the ModeratorsExaminers in Honour Moderations in Classics and English or the Preliminary Examination in Classics and English.

     C. LINK PAPERS 

    ForDetailed Paper 5 Epicprescriptions and Paperset 6texts (a)for Tragedylink and (b) Comedy: while candidatespapers will be expectedprovided to be familiar within the texts specified, opportunities will be given to show knowledge of authors and texts beyond those prescribed. Candidates must answer at least one question that relates ClassicalClassics and English LiteratureFHS handbook for the relevant year of examination.

    • 5. Epic (one paper of three hours plus 15 minutes’’ reading time)

      With special reference to Homer, Virgil, Lucan, Milton, Dryden, Pope.

      There will be a compulsory question requiring candidates to comment on and bring out points of comparison between either (a) a passage of Homer and one or more English translations or (b) a passage of Virgil and one or more English translations. The passages will be drawn from (a) Odyssey, Books 6 and 9-12, (b) Aeneid, Books 7, 8 and 12. There will also be a passage for compulsory comment from Milton, Paradise Lost.

    • 6. One of the following:

      • (a) Tragedy [Candidates who offer paper B. 4This (iv)subject may not be combined with 506: Greek Tragedy may not also offer this paper].

        With special reference to:

        Aeschylus, Agamemnon.

        Sophocles, Oedipus the King.

        Euripides, Medea, Hecuba.

        Seneca, Medea, Thyestes.

        Kyd, The Spanish Tragedy.

        Marlowe, Tamburlaine the Great (Parts I and II).

        Edward II, Dr Faustus, Dido Queen of Carthage.

        Shakespeare.

        Jonson, Sejanus, Catiline.

        Webster, The White Devil, The Duchess of Malfi.

        Middleton, The Changeling, Women Beware Women.

        Ford, 'Tis Pity She's a Whore.

        Milton, Samson Agonistes.

      • There will be an optional commentary question with passages drawn from Aeschylus, Agamemnon, and Seneca, Medea.

      • (b) Comedy [Candidates who offer paper B. 4This (v) Comedysubject may not alsobe offercombined thiswith paper].

        With special reference to507:

        Aristophanes, BirdsComedy.

        Menander, Dyscolus.

        Plautus, Amphitryo and Menaechmi.

        Terence, Adelphoe.

        Gascoigne, Supposes.

        Lyly, Campaspe, Mother Bombie.

        Shakespeare.

        Jonson, Every Man in his Humour, Volpone, Epicoene, The Alchemist, Bartholomew Fair.

        Wycherley, The Country Wife.

        Vanbrugh, The Relapse. Congreve, The Double Dealer, The Way of the World.

        Sheridan, The Rivals, The School for Scandal, The Critic.

        There will be an optional commentary question with passages drawn from Aristophanes, Birds, and Terence, Adelphoe.

      • (c) The Reception of Classical Literature in Poetry in English since 1900 Authors in English for study will include Auden, H. D., Eliot, Frost, Longley, Lowell, MacNeice, Carson, Harrison, Heaney, Hughes and Walcott.

      • This paper will be examined by an extended essay of 5,000-6,000 words. Essay topics set by the examiners will be released on Monday of Week 6 of the Hilary Term preceding the final examination and essays should be submitteduploaded to the University approved online assessment platform by Monday of Week 10 of the same term (12 noon) to the Examination Schools, High Street. Candidates will be required to use at least three authors in their essays, at least one of whom must be a classical author.

         This subject may NOT be combined with optionssubjects in Classics examined by extended essay (4 (ii)503, (iii)504, (v))or 507. Candidates must avoid repetition in this paper of material used in Paper 2(d).

     D: DISSERTATION

    • 1. All  candidates for the Honour School of Classics and English must offer a dissertation.

      •  (i) The subject of the dissertation must be substantially connected with any subject area in Literae Humaniores and/or English Language and Literature.

      • (ii) The subject of the dissertation may, but need not, overlap any subject or period on which the candidate offers papers. Candidates are warned, however, that they must avoid repetition in their papers of materials used in their dissertation, and that they will not be given credit for material extensively repeated.

      • (iii) Candidates must submit a dissertation abstract of no more than 100 words, to the Chair of Examiners in Classics and English, care of the English Faculty Office, by 5pm5 p.m. on Thursday of the eighth week of the Michaelmas term preceding the examination.

      • (iv) The Chair of Examiners in Classics and English will decide as soon as possible, and in every case by Thursday of the first week of the Hilary Term preceding the examination, whether or not to approve the abstract, and will advise candidates of the decision forthwith.

    • 2. EveryThe dissertationcandidate mustmay benot discuss with any tutor either his or her choice of content or the candidate’smethod ownof work.handling Tutorsit may,after however, advise on the choice and scopeFriday of the subject,sixth provideweek aof readingthe list,Hilary andTerm readpreceding andthe comment on a first draftexamination.

      Candidates must signinclude a certificate stating that the dissertation is their own work, and that they have read the Joint School guidelines on plagiarism (see also 3 below). This certificate must be placed in a sealed envelope bearing the candidate’s examination number and presented togetherincluded with the dissertation.

    • 3. Dissertations previously submitted for the Honour School of Classics and English may be re-submitted. No dissertation will be accepted if it has already been submitted, wholly or substantially, for any other degree of this or any other university; and the certificate must also contain confirmation that the dissertation has not already been so submitted.

    • 4. No dissertation shall be ineligible because it has been submitted, in whole or in part, for any scholarship or prize of this University advertised in the University Gazette.

    • 5. The dissertation shall be of 7,000-8,000 words; failure to keep to these limits is liable to be penalized. In the case of a commentary on a text, and at the discretion of the Chair of the Examiners, any substantial quoting of that text need not be included in the word-count. There must be a select bibliography and, if appropriate, list of sources.

    • 6. Two typed copies of theThe dissertation must be delivereduploaded to the ChairUniversity ofapproved Examiners,online Honourassessment School of Classics and English, Examination Schools, High Streetplatform, by noon on  Tuesday of the ninth week of Hilary Term preceding the examination.